• Urgent Action

Urgent Action: Two Afro-Descendant Defenders Criminalized (Colombia: UA 85.18)

May 7, 2018

Sara Quiñonez and her mother Tulia Maria Valencia, community leaders and human rights defenders from Alto Mira and Frontera in the municipality of Tumaco, have been unjustly detained and accused of charges they did not commit.

Sara Quiñonez and her mother Tulia Maria Valencia, community leaders and human rights defenders from Alto Mira and Frontera in the municipality of Tumaco, have been unjustly detained and accused of charges they did not commit. 1) TAKE ACTION Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
  • Urging the Attorney General to immediately release Sara Quiñonez and Tulia María Valencia and refrain from pressing charges without strong evidence, with the purpose of preventing them from having a trial in freedom;
  • Calling on the Attorney General to adjust its internal guidelines to ensure that the criminal justice system is not used to attack and harass human rights defenders and that criminal investigations are only initiated when there is merit and evidence for it;
  • Urging the authorities to adequately implement the precautionary measures that have already been granted to Sara Quiñonez and the Community Council and to provide comprehensive protection measures to Afro-descendant women human rights defenders in the Pacific coast of Colombia in accordance with their wishes, guaranteeing their human rights work without fear for their safety.

Contact these two officials by 18 June, 2018:

President Señor Juan Manuel Santos Presidente de la República Palacio de Nariño, Carrera 8 No.7-26 Bogotá, Colombia Correo: [email protected] Salutation: Dear President Santos/ Estimado Presidente Santos

Ambassador Camilo Reyes, Embassy of Colombia 1724 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20036 Phone: 202 387 8338 I Fax: 202-232-8643 Email: [email protected] Salutation: Dear Ambassador

2) LET US KNOW YOU TOOK ACTION Click here to let us know if you took action on this case! This is Urgent Action 85.18 Here’s why it is so important to report your actions: we record the actions taken on each case—letters, emails, calls and tweets—and use that information in our advocacy. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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